Judith Shelton

Ms. Shelton has performed since 2001 as a soloist and accompanist. These performances include international solo recitals, appearances on national television with Rejoice in the Lord Telecast, leads in opera and musical theater, and solos for city ceremonies and other concert tours. Most recently Ms. Shelton had the honor of performing the world premiere of the soprano song cycle, Living to God: Reflections on Life in Christ, a cycle of Wesleyan poetry for the modern church. In the summer of 2023, she was invited to Bavaria as a teaching fellow to partake in the International Performing Arts Institute, where she honed her craft as a vocal pedagogue and studied with Kristin Chavez (the foremost interpreter of Carmen in the United States). She has conducted chamber string ensemble and orchestral concerts and organized many children’s choirs and productions. She has held first chair with the Houston Symphony Chorus and with Portara, the premier chamber ensemble in Nashville for modern, classical choral works. 

Ms. Shelton is a professor at East Texas Baptist University where she engages in encouraging the continuing musical education of her pupils, developing the talent of her students, and bringing classical music to a broader audience. She previously held the position of held the position of Vocal Chair and Music Director of the Musical Theater Department at ETBU and directed music for Anastasia the Musical, Gilbert and Sullivan Scenes, Jane Eyre: the Musical, The Telephone, White Christmas, and Working the Musical. Before working at ETBU, she was the Director of Choral Activities and Vocal Studies at Columbia State Community College.

Notable conductors Ms. Shelton has worked with include Alfred Heller, famed vocal coach and pianist and last living pupil of composer Heitor Villa-Lobos; Dwight Gustafson, cornerstone of opera in South Carolina and American composer; and David Chin, international Bach specialist and director of BachFest Malaysia.